If there was no risk transfer at all, then the transaction should have been booked as a loan, not as reinsurance (see box, p. 90).

FORBES: The Battle of the Titans over AIG

But let's not forget that Halliburton is one of the world's largest oilfield services companies, and that oil prices are high and exploration is gearing up (see story, p. 90).

FORBES: Dick Cheney's Revenge

The problem is so pressing that Bill Gates pulled Microsoft's 7, 000 systems programmers off their jobs for all of February for a "Trustworthy Computing" initiative aimed at making more secure operating systems ( see story, p. 90).

FORBES: Scare Tactics